University of the Algarve

About: University of the Algarve is a education organization based out in Faro, Portugal. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Tourism. The organization has 3649 authors who have published 10303 publications receiving 233536 citations.

Pillars of Hercules: is the Atlantic–Mediterranean transition a phylogeographical break?

Abstract: The geological history of the Mediterranean Sea, its hydrography and connection with the Atlantic Ocean have been well documented Despite a wealth of historical and oceanographic data, the Atlantic–Mediterranean transition remains controversial at the biological level as there are discordant results regarding the biogeographical separation between the Atlantic and Mediterranean biota The opening of the Strait of Gibraltar at the end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (some 533 million years ago), removed the land barrier that impeded the marine biota allowing it to disperse freely into the Mediterranean Sea However, present day genetic patterns suggest a limitation to gene flow for some marine species, preventing population admixture In the last few years, a large number of studies have challenged the hypothesis of the Strait of Gibraltar representing a phylogeographical break A review of more than 70 papers reveals no obvious relationship between either dispersal ability or life history, and observed patterns of partial or complete genetic isolation between Atlantic and Mediterranean populations We re-analysed a selection of this large body of data (20 studies in total) in order to provide a homogeneous and coherent view on the generality of the phylogeographical patterns and the presence of a phylogeographical barrier This offered the opportunity to summarize the state of the art on this matter and reach some general conclusions on the evolutionary history across the Atlantic–Mediterranean range Geographically, some species in the transition zone showed step changes of allele frequencies associated with the Almeria-Oran Front rather than with the Strait of Gibraltar itself A major part of the data describe evolutionary events well within the time frame of the Quaternary age as very few taxa pre-date closure of the Tethys Sea Results point to a combined signature of vicariance, palaeoclimate fluctuation and life-history traits on the Atlantic–Mediterranean phylogeographical patterns Principal component analysis failed to show any particular association between biological traits and genetic variables It would argue that organismal determinism may play a far less significant role than marine biogeographers have generally believed

Long live FOXO: unraveling the role of FOXO proteins in aging and longevity

Abstract: Aging constitutes the key risk factor for age-related diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. Human longevity and healthy aging are complex phenotypes influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. The fact that genetic contribution to lifespan strongly increases with greater age provides basis for research on which "protective genes" are carried by long-lived individuals. Studies have consistently revealed FOXO (Forkhead box O) transcription factors as important determinants in aging and longevity. FOXO proteins represent a subfamily of transcription factors conserved from Caenorhabditis elegans to mammals that act as key regulators of longevity downstream of insulin and insulin-like growth factor signaling. Invertebrate genomes have one FOXO gene, while mammals have four FOXO genes: FOXO1, FOXO3, FOXO4, and FOXO6. In mammals, this subfamily is involved in a wide range of crucial cellular processes regulating stress resistance, metabolism, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis. Their role in longevity determination is complex and remains to be fully elucidated. Throughout this review, the mechanisms by which FOXO factors contribute to longevity will be discussed in diverse animal models, from Hydra to mammals. Moreover, compelling evidence of FOXOs as contributors for extreme longevity and health span in humans will be addressed.

Tight regulation of unstructured proteins: from transcript synthesis to protein degradation.

Abstract: Altered abundance of several intrinsically unstructured proteins (IUPs) has been associated with perturbed cellular signaling that may lead to pathological conditions such as cancer. Therefore, it is important to understand how cells precisely regulate the availability of IUPs. We observed that regulation of transcript clearance, proteolytic degradation, and translational rate contribute to controlling the abundance of IUPs, some of which are present in low amounts and for short periods of time. Abundant phosphorylation and low stochasticity in transcription and translation indicate that the availability of IUPs can be finely tuned. Fidelity in signaling may require that most IUPs be available in appropriate amounts and not present longer than needed.

An Improved Dimension-Sweep Algorithm for the Hypervolume Indicator

Abstract: This paper presents a recursive, dimension-sweep algorithm for computing the hypervolume indicator of the quality of a set of n non-dominated points in d > 2 dimensions. It improves upon the existing HSO (Hypervolume by Slicing Objectives) algorithm by pruning the recursion tree to avoid repeated dominance checks and the recalculation of partial hypervolumes. Additionally, it incorporates a recent result for the three-dimensional special case. The proposed algorithm achieves O(nd−2log n) time and linear space complexity in the worst-case, but experimental results show that the pruning techniques used may reduce the time complexity exponent even further.

Rationalizing cellulose (in)solubility: reviewing basic physicochemical aspects and role of hydrophobic interactions

Abstract: Despite being the world’s most abundant natural polymer and one of the most studied, cellulose is still challenging researchers. Cellulose is known to be insoluble in water and in many organic solvents, but can be dissolved in a number of solvents of intermediate properties, like N-methylmorpholine N-oxide and ionic liquids which, apparently, are not related. It can also be dissolved in water at extreme pHs, in particular if a cosolute of intermediate polarity is added. The insolubility in water is often referred to strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding between cellulose molecules. Revisiting some fundamental polymer physicochemical aspects (i.e. intermolecular interactions) a different picture is now revealed: cellulose is significantly amphiphilic and hydrophobic interactions are important to understand its solubility pattern. In this paper we try to provide a basis for developing novel solvents for cellulose based on a critical analysis of the intermolecular interactions involved and mechanisms of dissolution.